De La Soul live at Sheffield’s Tramlines Festival in 2015 (Photos by Gary Mather Mather for Live4ever)
De La Soul’s founder member passed away on February 12th.
Maseo and Posdnuos have paid lengthy tributes to their late De La Soul bandmate Trugoy the Dove, Kelvin Mercer reflecting on the ‘great loss’ both to them and the ‘entire hip-hop community’.
“This is heavy on our hearts and minds but we are smiling and even laughing at all the great times we shared with you,” his social media post reads.
“As we attempt to navigate this world without you, we stand grateful and proud of all you accomplished on this earth.”
In a separate piece, Vincent Mason highlighted the profound mixed emotions which this month’s news brought:
“On one end I’m happy you no longer have to suffer the pain of your condition but on the other hand I’m extremely upset at the fact that you’re not here to celebrate and enjoy what we worked and fought so hard to achieve.”
